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Syracuse Basketball: Virginia Cavaliers (round 2) crystal ball predictions

By Paul A. Esden Jr.

SYRACUSE, NY - NOVEMBER 06: Mamadi Diakite #25 of the Virginia Cavaliers greets teammate Jay Huff #30 following a made basket against the Syracuse Orange during the second half at the Carrier Dome on November 6, 2019 in Syracuse, New York. Virginia defeated Syracuse 48-34. (Photo by Rich Barnes/Getty Images)
SYRACUSE, NY - NOVEMBER 06: Mamadi Diakite #25 of the Virginia Cavaliers greets teammate Jay Huff #30 following a made basket against the Syracuse Orange during the second half at the Carrier Dome on November 6, 2019 in Syracuse, New York. Virginia defeated Syracuse 48-34. (Photo by Rich Barnes/Getty Images) /
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Paul A. Esden Jr, Site Expert (7-8)

I’ve been struggling to find the temperature of this Syracuse basketball team more so than the Orange have. Although I do know this: January 11 on the road vs Virginia feels like a turning point in this season.

If Syracuse can pull off the stunning upset they could really start to pad the resume and turn this ship around. A loss would be devastating and understandable considering the opponent, but after dropping two close ones, Syracuse needs to make up for that with an upset.

It seems like Virginia will have Braxton Key for this game who is one of their biggest pieces to the puzzle. He got injured late in the loss to Boston College earlier this week and seemingly re-injured his surgically repaired wrist. Seems like they dodged a bullet.

Virginia has elite defenders all over the place and it’ll be another grinder, but the good news is Virginia sucks offensively. The Cavaliers average under 56 points per contest and on the other side of the coin Syracuse routinely is dropping 70+ taco time scores.

If the Orange can be average offensively that should be enough to win this game. In the first contest, Virginia won the rebounding edge by 19, but they haven’t been nearly as good on the boards since. UVA ranks 11th in the conference in rebounding margin and actually average fewer boards per game than the Orange.

Another area Virginia struggles is with their three-ball, if Syracuse can get up early they could walk away with the victory.

Call me crazy, but I’ll take the Orange in their biggest win of the season: 60-51. 

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